


First Impressions

by rainsoakedshoes



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Allison Argent & Stiles Stilinski Friendship, Alternate Universe - Human, F/F, Famous Lydia, Femslash, First Dates, First Meetings, Hinted Derek/Stiles, Journalist Allison
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-24
Updated: 2015-05-24
Packaged: 2018-04-01 00:08:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,547
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3998431
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rainsoakedshoes/pseuds/rainsoakedshoes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Stiles talked Allison into going with him to the opening of a new nightclub she never expected to meet famous actress Lydia Martin. She didn't really expect what happened next either.</p>
            </blockquote>





	First Impressions

**Author's Note:**

> I wish I'd had the time to give this the 10k+ that this idea deserves, but I was really working against the clock since I had a lot of rl commitments occupying my time as well. 
> 
> First off a huge thank you and shout out to [blackpaintedred](http://blackpaintedred.tumblr.com/) on tumblr who created the beautiful piece of art that inspired this fic. I really hope that you like this piece. 
> 
> Secondly a massive thank you to [madgesgoldpin](http://madgesgoldpin.tumblr.com/) for stepping in and being my beta for this fic. 
> 
> And thirdly my undying love and gratitude to [paniero](http://paniero.tumblr.com/) for keeping me motivated and showing faith in my ability when I was second guessing myself.

Stiles huffed and flopped down on Allison’s couch.

“Please, Ally?” He asked again. “You know how much I hate going to these stupid things alone.”

He had been invited to the opening of a new high end nightclub, and had been given a plus one.

“Then don’t go,” Allison said with a shrug. She had her laptop set up on the kitchen table, which was covered in magazines and print outs. She was still five hundred words under her word limit and her deadline was looming.

“I have to go,” Stiles said. “You know how these things work.” He pinched the bridge of his nose. “We have to _network_.”

“Who gave you the invite anyway?” Allison asked. Stiles hadn’t explained that. He had just let himself into Allison’s apartment complaining about how he had no one to go to the opening of _Visions_ with.

“The invite came from Lydia Martin’s people after I did that photoshoot with her,” Stiles explained. “Which is part of the reason I can’t say no.”

Allison hummed in agreement. “I guess you don’t want to get on Lydia Martin’s bad side. I heard she can be a bit of a diva.”

Stiles shrugged. “Working with her was actually pretty easy. The photoshoot was for her new line of perfume, and it was a lot of fun.”

Allison laughed. “Of course you’d say that,” she said. “You’ve been in love with her since you saw that terrible coming of age movie she did back when she first started acting.”

“It wasn’t that bad,” Stiles said, and Allison rolled her eyes. Stiles would defend Lydia’s movies until his dying day. “Anyway, you know why I have to go, so come with me?”

The two of them worked for rival fashion magazines, and they both knew how important it was to make connections with people in order to further their careers. Their business was a competitive one, and passing up the opportunity to attend a party full of big names could mean missed career chances in the future. But that didn’t mean Allison was going to give into Stiles’ begging easily.

“Why can’t Scott go with you?” Allison asked around the pen in her mouth.

“He’s on the other side of the country.”

Allison looked up. “Oh, right.” Scott was scouting locations for an upcoming film and would be gone for at least two weeks. She had been texting him earlier that morning about how the trip was going.

Stiles shook his head and laughed. Allison always got single minded when she had an important deadline coming up; everything else just faded away for her.

“How’s the article coming?” Stiles asked.

Allison shrugged. She took the pen out of her mouth and placed it on the table. “I’ll have it done by Friday. I haven’t missed a deadline yet, and I don’t plan to start now.”

A grin stretched across Stiles’ face and Allison sighed. She knew that look.

“So,” Stiles stretched out the syllable. “If your deadline is Friday that means you’ll be free Saturday night for the party.”

“You really want me to come with you?” Allison asked.

Stiles nodded. “Of course. You’re the only one I know who hates these parties more than me.”

“I’ll start looking for an outfit to wear.”

Stiles smiled triumphantly. “We’re going to have a terrible time.”

*

The opening of _Visions_ wasn’t the first nightclub opening that Allison and Stiles had attended, but it was the biggest that they had been to so far. The red carpet was full of big name stars, musicians and movie stars alike. Allison and Stiles acted very nonchalant about the whole thing, but quietly fangirled together when they saw someone they were a big fan of.

It wasn’t long before the party was in full swing. Allison and Stiles stuck close together in the dense crowd so they didn’t lose each other. The passes that Lydia had given Stiles got them free drinks, and Stiles and Allison planned to take full advantage of that fact.

Stiles and Allison ran into a lot of people they knew, mostly acquaintances in the industry. People that Stiles had photographed, or people that Allison had interviewed.

Sometime after their third drink the two of them ran into Allison’s boss, Derek Hale.

“I’m surprised to see you here,” Derek said to Allison.

Allison shrugged. “Stiles had free tickets, so I’m here with him. I didn’t know you were going to be here.”

“We’re doing a feature on the nightclub in the next issue,” Derek explained, raising his voice so Allison could hear him over the music. Derek turned his attention to Stiles. “Stiles, when are you finally going to come and work for me?” He asked the other man.

Stiles finished the last of his drink and shrugged. “When will hell freeze over?”

“You know that _Wild_ has better studios and equipment than _Strike_ ,” Derek said. “And you’d have more freedom to work on personal projects.”

Stiles leaned forward and patted Derek on the chest. “Keep trying, Hale.” He linked his arm with Allison’s and dragged her through the crowd, away from Derek.

“You should come work with us,” Allison said, leaning into Stiles to talk in his ear.

“I will,” Stiles said. “I just want to make Derek sweat for a while longer yet!”

Allison laughed and steered Stiles in another direction so they could go dance.

A while later, after Allison had stopped counting drinks, Allison was so engrossed in talking with Stiles while walking that she wasn’t paying attention to where she was going. Allison managed to walk straight into someone. When she looked up Allison was face to face with Lydia Martin.

“I am so sorry!” Allison exclaimed.

“It’s fine!” Lydia told her with a dismissive wave of her hand. “At least you didn’t spill a drink all over me like some idiot did earlier.” Lydia noticed who Allison was standing with a pointed at Stiles. “You were the photographer who did my perfume shots, right?”

Stiles nodded, perhaps a little too eagerly. “That’s right. I’m Stiles.”

Lydia nodded. “Stiles. Of course. And who’s your friend?”

“This is Allison,” Stiles said.

“Allison.” Lydia stuck her hand out for Allison to shake. “I’m Lydia, it’s nice to meet you.”

“It’s so nice to meet you too,” Allison told her, taking Lydia’s hand.

“Are you a photographer too?” Lydia asked.

“No,” Allison said. “I work as a writer for the magazine _Wild._ I have a column about street fashion.”

“Oh, fantastic!” Lydia grabbed Allison by the arm. “Now I know it’s not street fashion, but you have to talk to me about some of the outfits people are wearing tonight. I’ve been dying to talk about it all night.”

Allison laughed. “Okay then,” she said. “If you want to.” She turned to Stiles. “Are you going to be okay while I talk with Lydia?”

Stiles nodded. “Course I am. Have fun,” he finished with a wink.

After critiquing a few outfits Lydia and Allison realised that they had a similar taste in fashion.

“I like your taste,” Lydia told Allison.

“I have working for a fashion magazine to thank for that,” Allison admitted. “My fashion sense wasn’t always that great.”

The two women were facing each other, leaning in close so that they could hear each other properly over the music.

“Have you ever modelled?” Lydia asked suddenly.

If Allison’s cheeks hadn’t of already been flushed from the alcohol and the heat of the club her cheeks would have burned bright red at that question.

“No,” Allison said.

Lydia pouted. “That’s a shame. You look like you could be a model.”

Allison ducked her head, certain that her face couldn’t get any redder. “Thank you.”

Lydia moved in even close to Allison, placing a hand on the other woman’s hip. With the height difference between them Lydia was looking up at Allison, her head tilted up, pink painted lips open slightly.

Allison surprised herself by making the first move. She leaned down to close the distance between them and kiss Lydia.

Lydia responded eagerly, opening her mouth for Allison. Her grip on Allison’s hip tightened a little and her other hand mover up to Allison’s neck. Allison could taste Lydia’s lipstick and the alcohol on her tongue. She had both hands on Lydia’s hips.

Allison backed up a little as she and Lydia kissed until her back hit a wall. Lydia moved on hand up and fisted her hand in Allison’s hair. The two women shifted against each other. Moving in reaction to each other, as well as to the beat of the music. Their lipsticks had smudged together, turning their lips a pinkish-red. They were pressed flush against each other, with Allison’s thigh between Lydia’s legs. Lydia broke the kiss and trailed her lips down Allison’s neck.

The two of them were wrapped up in their own little world, nothing outside of the taste and touch of each other mattered. That was until a tap on Lydia’s shoulder interrupted them of course.

Lydia whirled around in annoyance. “What?!” She snapped, before deflating a little when she saw who it was. It was her manager with an unfazed look on his face. “What do you want Boyd?”

“It’s three,” Boyd told her. “You said you were leaving at three no matter what you were doing.” Boyd looked over Lydia’s shoulder at Allison, who was still leaning against the wall. “Or who you were doing, I guess.”

“Oh shut up,” Lydia said. She turned to Allison. “I’m so sorry, but Boyd’s right, I do really have to go.”

“Uh.” Allison tugged down her dress, a little in shock. “Yeah, that’s fine.”

Boyd handed Lydia a clutch bag, and Lydia pulled out a compact from inside. She started to fix her lipstick and hair in the small mirror.

Lydia walked away without another word to Allison, leaving the other woman standing by herself, confused and a little hurt.

*

Derek rapped his knuckles against the open door of Allison’s office to get her attention. Allison looked up, but once she saw it was Derek she turned her attention back to her laptop.

“Yes?” Allison asked.

Derek rolled his eyes. He was the Editor in Chief, but Allison acted like he was the one reporting to her more often than not.

“So I just got off the phone with Vernon Boyd, you know, Lydia Martin’s manager,” Derek said. He put his hands in his pants pockets and took a few steps into the room.

Allison’s typing faltered for a moment, but her expression didn’t betray her thoughts or feelings. “Oh, really?” It had been almost a week since the incident at the nightclub, and Allison was annoyed at herself for the way her stomach flipped when Derek mentioned Lydia.

“Yeah,” Derek nodded. “It turns out she wants to give our magazine an exclusive interview.”

“That’s great,” Allison said. “An interview with Lydia is bound to boost revenue.”

“There’s just one little catch.” Derek sat down in the chair in front of Allison’s desk.

Allison looked up over the top of her laptop suspiciously. “What’s the catch?” Derek wouldn’t come down to her office for just anything.

“Lydia will only sit down for the interview if it’s with you,” Derek told her.

“Me?” Allison asked. “Why me?”

Derek shrugged. “I have no idea. Honestly I don’t really care. I gave Lydia’s manager your contact info so they can set up a time with you.” Allison frowned to herself and Derek arched an eyebrow. “It’s not going to be a problem is it?”

Allison smiled and shook her head. “Of course not. It’s just that I don’t usually do the big name interviews, you usually leave those to Erica.” Allison would have been lying if she’d said she didn’t want to see Lydia again, but she was still uncertain about sitting down with her for an interview.

“I’m sure you’re more than qualified to conduct the interview.” Derek stood up and straightened his jacket. “Besides, the decision was taken out of my hands.”

Allison watched Derek’s back as he headed out of the office. “And if I refuse?” She asked.

“I’m not saying you’ll be writing horoscopes permanently.” Derek paused in the door way. “But Madame Felicity has quite a bit of vacation time saved up, and I’m thinking about insisting that she take it.”

Allison didn’t say anything else and Derek continued on his way out.

Once Derek was out of sight Allison buried her face in her hands and let out a frustrated sigh.

*

The three walls of the elevator were panelled with mirrors, and the metal of the doors was polished to a high shine. Allison evaluated herself from all sides and fixed her hair. She was alone in the elevator and used the time to give herself a little pep talk.

“You’re a professional,” Allison whispered to herself. “You can do this. It was one stupid kiss. This interview is going to go fine and,” she sighed. “And I’m lying to myself.”

The elevator stopped and two people got on, stopping from Allison from verbally rebutting her own thoughts. Allison exchanged polite smiles with the two men, then turned her attention to the row of numbers above the door.

Allison was on her way to the top floor of the Hotel Royal. She wasn’t entirely sure why Lydia and her people had chosen that particular venue, but Allison had been assured that the rooftop terrace would provide privacy for the interview.

The two men exited the elevator two floors up, and left Allison alone again. She fidgeted with her necklace and her hair, then shook her head and clasped her hands together. She could practically hear her mothers’ voice scolding her.

_Stop fidgeting Allison! Pull yourself together and do what needs to be done._

“You got this,” Allison whispered to herself as the elevator stopped and the doors opened out onto the rooftop.

When she had been promised privacy, Allison had expected maybe a corner of the rooftop away from other hotel guests. What she wasn’t expecting was for the whole rooftop to be empty except for Lydia and her manager. Allison idly wondered if that was deliberate or just a happy coincidence as she made her way over to where Lydia was seated.

Lydia was sitting in front of a round table, while Boyd stood a few feet away from her on his phone. Boyd gave Allison a nod as a greeting. Lydia was dressed in a sleeveless navy blue dress with a white belt around her waist, and matching white shoes, her red hair was down in loose curls. Looking at her all Allison could think about was the feeling of Lydia’s hand in her hair, and the feeling of their bodies pressed together.

“I hope you don’t mind if I eat while we talk,” Lydia said, gesturing to the food laid out on the table in front of her. “I had a costume fitting this morning that ran long and I haven’t had a chance to eat yet.”

“That’s fine by me,” Allison said. She settled herself in the chair across the table from Lydia.

Allison pulled a voice recorder out of her bag, turned it on, and placed it on the table. Then she took out a notepad and pen. Although she recorded her interviews, Allison still liked to take hand written notes throughout.

The first few questions that Allison had were standard. She asked about Lydia’s current projects, her perfume and an upcoming movie, and got Lydia to talk about her hobbies, the kinds of things that she did to decompress during her time off.

Allison had conferred with Derek about what questions to ask for the interview, since Derek had decided Lydia and her interview would be the focus of the cover for an upcoming issue. Even though Lydia hadn’t placed any restrictions on the type of questions that Allison could ask, neither Allison nor Derek wanted to ask any possibly inflammatory questions in case everything blew up in their faces.

“So is there anyone special in your life at the moment?” Allison asked.

Lydia’s cheeks went pink and she didn’t make eye contact with Allison. She played with the last of the food that was on her plate.

“No,” Lydia said after a moment. “No one special right now.”

“Are you looking for someone?” The follow up question wasn’t planned, but it slipped out of Allison’s mouth.

Lydia looked up and met eyes with Allison. “Maybe,” Lydia said with a small shrug. “If I meet the right person.”

Allison ignored the way her stomach flipped a little at that, and moved on.

“I was a little surprised when my editor told me about your request for this interview,” Allison admitted. “Usually getting a private interview with you is difficult. What made you reach out for this one?”

Lydia reached out and picked up the voice recorder. She switched it off then placed it back down on the table again. For a moment Allison thought that she had crossed a line without noticing, but then Lydia answered the question.

“I wanted to see you again.” Lydia sat up a little straighter. “I thought that even if you didn’t want to see me the interview would put you in your bosses’ good graces. It was a win-win situation.”

Allison frowned and her grip on her pen tightened. Of course she _had_ wanted to see Lydia again, but the fact that Lydia hadn’t really cared about what Allison wanted rubbed the journalist up the wrong way.

“So you didn’t really care if seeing you again made me uncomfortable,” Allison said. “You figured I’d meet with you just because you requested it.”

Lydia’s eyebrows drew together in confusion. “You didn’t want to see me?”

“I did but.” Allison paused. “But that’s not the point. You left me at the club without an explanation and I haven’t heard from you since. If I hadn’t of wanted to see you I was stuck between a rock and a hard place. If you wanted to see me you could have just contacted me through the magazine, or since you have Stiles’ contact information you could have just asked him.”

Lydia looked over her shoulder at Boyd, who was pretending to be interested in the potted plants and not the conversation happening five feet from him.

Lydia sat back in her seat. “I’m sorry,” she said. “You’re right.”

“I did want to see you,” Allison said again. “It would have been nice to have more choice in when and where, that’s all.”

Lydia chewed on the inside of her cheek. “Will you let me make it up to you?”

Allison crossed her arms over her chest. “How?”

“Let me take you out to dinner,” Lydia said. “Let me prove that I’m not some self-obsessed bitch.”

“And if I say no?”

“We finish the interview and go our separate ways.”

Allison considered her two options for a few moments, then she nodded. “Okay. I’ll go.”

Lydia beamed at Allison. “Great! We’ll get the rest of this interview out of the way, then you can pick a restaurant.”

*

Allison was leaning up against the wall outside the restaurant as Lydia got out of the car that dropped her off. Lydia didn’t notice the advertisement on the wall next to Allison until she got closer. Once Lydia realised what it was her cheeks went pink.

“When I chose this place did you know this was here?” Allison asked, nodding towards the advertisement.

Lydia shook her head. “They didn’t tell me where they were putting them up.” She took off her sunglasses and tucked them into her bag. Her hair was pulled up into a braided crown, and she tucked a loose strand behind her ear.

The advertisement was one for Lydia’s new perfume. Lydia’s face was looking down at them with an air of indifference.

“Do you ever get used to it?” Allison asked. “Seeing your face around like this?”

“No,” Lydia admitted. “It’s so weird.” She looked up at the advertisement. “I barely even recognise it as me.”

“But other people do,” Allison said.

“I don’t mind it,” Lydia told her as the two women walked into the restaurant. “Most of the time it’s really nice having people come up and say hi.”

The hostess greeted Allison and Lydia, then led them back to their table. After their drink orders had been taken and they had menus Allison got a chance to ask a follow up question.

“Don’t you get sick of it?” Allison asked. “People always knowing who you are? Never having any peace?”

“This is starting to feel more like an interview than a date,” Lydia said with a good natured laugh.

Allison ducked her head and looked at her menu. “Sorry,” she said. “I’m just curious.”

Lydia reached across the table and put her hand on Allison’s arm. “It’s fine.” Allison looked up at Lydia with a smile, and Lydia retracted her hand. “Besides,” Lydia continued. “This was supposed to be a way to prove I’m not completely self-obsessed, and talking about myself constantly probably isn’t helping my argument.”

“What do you want to talk about then?” Allison asked.

Lydia considered the question for a moment. “You,” she said finally. “You know a lot about me already, but I don’t know a lot about you.”

Allison opened her mouth, but then shut it again. She wasn’t used to talking about herself. She had no idea what to say. “What do you want to know?”

A waitress arrived with their drinks and took their meal order, which gave Lydia a little bit of time to think about what she wanted to ask.

“Where are you from?” Lydia asked. “Where’d you grow up?”

“Born and raised in California,” Allison said. “We moved all around the state though. We rarely spent a whole year in the same place.”

“How’d you get into journalism?”

Allison laughed. “Now it feels like I’m the one being interviewed.”

Lydia had one elbow resting on the edge of the table, and had a hand around her wine glass. “It’s fun,” she said. “I never get to be the one asking questions.”

Allison tucked her hair behind her ear. “I kinda fell into Journalism,” she admitted. “I was studying history and I took a writing class as an elective. When _Wild_ had a competition for writers to submit a piece and potentially get a job, Stiles dared me to enter. After an interview and an intern position, I was offered a place writing about street fashion, and here we are.”

Lydia was smiling and nodding along as Allison talked. “Do you like working there?”

It was Allison’s turn to nod. “It’s weird working for Derek Hale of all people, but I do really like it there.”

“Why is it weird?” Lydia asked with genuine curiosity.

Allison shrugged and ran the tip of her finger around the rim of her wine glass. “Our families have some history,” she said. “It’s not exactly a nice topic of conversation for a first date.”

“We’ll change the topic then,” Lydia decided with a decisive nod. “What do you like to do when you’re not writing?”

“Promise you won’t laugh?” Allison asked.

“Cross my heart,” Lydia said.

“Archery.”

“Archery? Like,” Lydia paused to mime drawing back and then releasing an arrow. “Archery? With a bow and arrow?”

Allison nodded. “Yeah,” she replied with a laugh “Archery with a bow and arrow. I own two compound bows, and a small crossbow. I used to compete professionally actually.”

“Oh my God,” Lydia said with a bit of awe in her voice. “That is so cool.”

“Really?” Allison asked. “Most people think it’s a little weird. I think it’s scared a couple of people off. Stiles has actually told me I should stop mentioning that I own deadly weapons on first dates.”

“Seriously,” Lydia said with a solemn nod, before breaking into a smile again. “When I asked about hobbies I thought you were going to say reading, or maybe something like hiking. Archery,” she laughed and shook her head. “I was not expecting that. You totally have to show me your skills sometime.”

“Sure,” Allison agreed. “I’d love to.”

Lydia took a sip of her wine. “Great.”

“What about you?” Allison asked. “There has to be something that you enjoy doing that isn’t already public knowledge.”

“Well.” Lydia hesitated, unsure whether to share or not.

“You can trust me,” Allison told her reassuringly. “It’s not like this is going to show up on the front page of a magazine.”

“Sorry,” Lydia said. “Sometimes it’s hard to let down the walls. I guess that one thing not too many people know is that I can read and write in Latin.”

“Latin,” Allison repeated with a raised eyebrow. “Why Latin?”

Lydia shrugged again. “Why not?” she asked. “I like to read and learn new things.”

Their conversation was briefly interrupted by the arrival of the waitress with their first course.

Allison was surprised by how much she enjoyed talking to Lydia. There was no awkward lulls in the conversation. The two women laughed and talked as they ate, learning more and more about each other. Allison realised how much she and Lydia had in common, more than just fashion tastes, and how intelligent Lydia truly was. One on one Lydia was so different to the ditzy persona that she put on for the media. She genuinely enjoyed spending time with her. Likewise Lydia thought it was refreshing how easy it was to talk to Allison. She didn’t have to hide away her true self like she did with so many others. Allison made her laugh more than anyone else that she knew.

At the end of the meal Lydia snatched the bill away before Allison even had the chance to reach for it.

“This was my way of making up for my behaviour,” Lydia said. “My apology includes paying for the meal.”

“You’ve more than made up for it,” Allison told her. “I’ve had a really good time.”

Lydia smiled brightly. “So have I.”

Once the bill was paid the two women headed outside to where Lydia had a car waiting to pick them up. Although there were no paparazzi at the door to the restaurant, Lydia hadn’t wanted to risk getting swamped while standing on the street waiting for a cab.

Tipsy on wine Lydia and Allison sat close together in the back of the car, talking and giggling.

When the car pulled up outside Allison’s building Lydia got out as well to say goodbye.

“What do you say about doing this again?” Lydia asked as they lingered on the sidewalk.

“I say absolutely.”

Lydia grinned and leaned in to kiss Allison. The kiss was little more than a peck on the lips, much tamer than the last time.

“Listen,” Allison said. “Do you want to come up?”

Lydia tilted her head to the side. “Will you show me you crossbow?”

“I’ll show you whatever you want,” Allison told her.

“Then I definitely want to come up.”

Lydia quickly darted back to the car to tell the driver that he could leave. Then she took Allison’s hand so Allison could lead her inside.

**Author's Note:**

> I liked writing this so I really hoped you enjoyed reading this  
> yo can come talk to me on [tumblr](http://heavenlyhale.tumblr.com/)


End file.
